


The Haunting of Carol Danvers

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: If I stay [44]
Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Carol is stressing everyone out, Character Turned Into a Ghost, F/F, Mother-Daughter Relationship, This is not a prank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 09:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18753829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Carol is woken up by the fluorescent light above her blowing up, which is strange because in the past thirty years of having her powers she never so much as blew up a light bulb. Also someone is playing with the lights. And Thor is getting really nervous about all of this...





	The Haunting of Carol Danvers

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Unfortunately still no Internet but I promised a story today and I'm a woman of my words. I'm promising the next story for Friday at the latest, I have high hopes that my Internet will be back tomorrow but if not, you'll get another story on Friday.  
> Also just a heads up, there's some scientific mumbo jumbo in this story, and I'm not a scientist, I'm very literary, shall we say, and even then at school biology was my thing, a lot more than physics...  
> Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoy, and I hope I'll be posting the next story from my computer!

Carol was awoken by the sudden surge of electricity which made the fluorescent tube above her spark and overheat. A bright white light invaded the room, before the tube exploded, split in two by the sudden overcharge. Carol had jumped to her feet at the sound of the sparkling light.

  
"Friday? What was that?" she called.

  
"Something is overcharging the electrical system."

  
"Of the complex?" Carol asked, suspecting some sort of problem at the nearest power plant which would need taken care of.

  
"No, of the room."

  
Carol frowned and looked at her hand. It wasn't glowing. She was used to waking up with energy flowing out of her hands, especially recently. Something she had never done in almost thirty years of being amazing, however, was blow up a light bulb. She looked up at the broken tube. Something else to fix, she supposed. She looked through the window. It was night time already. She had fallen asleep in an armchair. Everyone else was gone, probably to bed for those who could actually rest. She could only sleep because she was too tired not to fall asleep these days. She didn't like what she saw in her dreams.

  
"Do we have a spare somewhere?"

  
"In the garage, you'll find fluorescent tubes compatible with the entire building."

  
"Thank you, Friday."

  
She stretched and left the living room. As she passed through the kitchen, she found that she wasn't the only one still up. Thor was sitting outside in the small courtyard, under the tree and the moon. She missed the birds who used to sing in the trees here. So many of them were gone none of them seemed to sing anymore.

  
Carol opened the door to move outside. Thor was very thoughtful these days, and even more so since their return from Titan 2. The guilt of their failure weight particularly heavy on his shoulders. In fact, she had never seen him so distant, so static.

  
"Can't sleep?" she asked as she came to sit beside him.

  
"There is no point to it," he replied simply.

  
"Yeah, can't sleep either."

  
They fell into silence for a moment. Carol looked at the tree beside them. It seemed weaker than she remembered, more tired. Its leaves weren't as green as usual. Maybe it, too, felt the collective sadness of all the animals who had disappeared.

  
"I'm am so sorry, Carol. About your wife and child."

  
Carol sighed sadly.

  
"Yeah, well, we tried. At least, we tried. And for Monica... I don't think undoing the decimation would have brought her back. She died being a hero..."

  
Thor vaguely nodded.

  
"I'm sorry I missed the wedding."

  
Carol couldn't help but smile.

  
"Yeah, I'm sure you would have liked it. We all missed your toast, though frankly there were so many people who gave a toast that it became really ridiculous..."

  
She chuckled, though her laughter died down when she realized half of these people were gone.

  
"But, I'm happy you're okay. Even if it's with one fake eye and a lot less hair," she joked.

  
Thor finally smiled, even if it was tentative.

  
"Yeah, the short hair is nice. You should try it sometimes. We could be short hair buddies."

  
Carol shrugged. She had no reason to cut her hair, really. She had no reasons to do anything anymore. Besides changing the tube in the living room, because that was the least she could do.

  
"Well, I'm off to change the fluorescent tube I broke in the living room," she said as she pushed herself off the bench. "Would the God of Thunder like to assist me in changing a light bulb?"

  
"I'm sure the strongest Avenger can take care of it herself."

  
Carol half-smiled and walked back inside.

* * *

  
  
Carol came back from the garage with a long fluorescent tube in her hand. As she left she turned off the light and walked down the hallway. When she reached the end of the hallway, however, the saw the reflection of light coming from behind her. She turned around. The light had been turned back on. She frowned. She quickly walked back to the entrance of the garage and switched it back off. It flickered,  then turned back on.

  
"Are you doing this, Friday?" she asked tentatively.

  
"My energy conservation program prevents me from pulling pranks," the AI replied.

  
Carol couldn't quite suppress the chill that ran down her spine. Someone or something was messing with the electricity around here. It wasn't just her breaking lights. It was something else. She switched it off again and waited. When nothing happened she walked away.

  
She found Thor in the kitchen, taking another beer out of the fridge. How many had he drunk that day? Maybe they should keep an eye on his drinking habit since it was becoming a habit.

  
"Got the tube," she said as a throw-away comment.

  
However, as she passed by, Thor froze. He reached for Stormbreaker which was resting against a nearby wall and took it with both hands. Carol watched him do with confusion.

  
"Wow there. Didn't know mercury was mortal to Asgardians."

  
"Don't you feel it?" he whispered back.

  
"Feel what?"

  
She looked around but couldn't see anything wrong, besides Thor which looked like he was ready to fight.

  
"The air. It's electric. There's something wrong."

  
"Maybe you're making it electric. You just need to relax, it's..."

  
Before she could finish her sentence, all the lights above them started flickering. The computer on the table turned on and off, displaying alternatively the counter showing how many people had disappeared. Thor's grip on the ax strengthened. Carol closed her fists, ready for any sort of danger.

  
"Are you doing this?" she asked.

  
Thor shook his head.

  
The lights didn't stop flickering, they shifted more and more quickly. Carol secured the lamp on a counter. She wasn't about to break another one in a fight. Soon after, it started to flicker as well, though it was connected to absolutely no source of power.

  
The computer changed again, but this time, it showed a still from some security footage. The sight of it made Carol's heart plummet. It was Monica, just a few seconds before the explosion. Before her...

  
"Friday turn it off!" Carol ordered.

  
No answer.

  
"Friday this isn't funny! Turn it off!"

  
Still, the light continued to flicker. The image on the computer change again. Somehow, it had accessed Carol's old account. It had found the stash of Carol's old family videos. It was playing the video of Monica's first word, on a loop, Monica calling her 'mama' again and again.

  
"Friday stop it!" Carol called, her voice breaking.

  
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she angrily brushed them off. Whoever was messing with her, she didn't like it one bit. Energy was already glowing around her fists. She was about to smash the computer when she felt Thor's hand on her shoulder.

  
"Carol, what is this human code with dots and dashes, the one Rogers used that one time in Argentina?" he asked.

  
Carol's eyes grew wide. Morse code. Why was Thor talking about Morse code? She looked up at the lights, and the tube still on the counter beside her. Then she realized. The flickers of the lights. Two long. Dark. Three Long. Dark again. Two long again. It was a message cycling again and again. And it spelled...

  
"Mom?"

  
Carol looked around with confusion and fright. Her heart had caught up with the situation quicker than her mind, and her mind was in disbelief, at best. As soon as she said the words, the pattern of the light changed. Carol focused. Morse code should have been easy, it should have been so easy for a military woman like herself. She couldn't focus, her entire being was overwhelmed with the possibility of what was going on.

  
"I can't... I don't understand!" she shouted.

  
"Carol!" Thor called out from beside her.

  
A shape of white light was dancing at the edge of the room, barely visible. It flickered into their field of vision with difficulty. A face, contorted painfully, passed through. A cry.

  
"Mom! Help me!"

  
It was Monica, or a part of her. She couldn't hold it for very long, just long enough to look at Carol in the eyes before she disappeared again.

  
"Monica!" Carol called out.

  
There was a pain in her heart, she couldn't tell whether it was from a true feeling of despair and powerlessness, or from hope. She turned to Thor who was anxiously looking to where Monica had appeared not two seconds ago.

  
"Monica's alive! She..."

  
Carol stormed out of the room, and Thor called back:

  
"Where are you going?!"

  
"I'm going to wake up Banner! He has to fix her!"

  
As she walked away she said, just loud enough for, she hoped, Monica to hear:

  
"Hold on, baby, I'm going to bring you home!"

* * *

  
  
"This is fascinating," Bruce said as he read through the report from the research facility they had gotten their hands on.

  
"So, can you help her?" Carol asked anxiously.

  
She'd given Bruce all the time and space she thought he needed, but her worry over her daughter's condition had only grown with every passing minute.

  
"I think I can," Bruce said.

  
Carol let out a sigh of relief.

  
"See, I think Monica's atoms were scattered into the electromagnetic spectrum. That's why we can't see her. Now, all we need to do is pull her back together."

  
"And you can do that?"

  
"Hopefully, yes."

  
Carol pursed her lips.

  
"How long?"

  
Bruce vaguely shrugged.

  
"I don't know... I mean, I need time to look over the schematics of the machine they used, then I should have a good working theory and..."

  
Carol looked him straight in the eyes.

  
"I'm giving you a day. If by tomorrow, you don't have a way to bring my daughter back, I'll find someone else who can."

  
Bruce nervously nodded and went back to work. Carol walked out with a sighed. She didn't mean to make him even more scared of her than he already was, but she was deadly worried. She hadn't been there when Maria had disappeared, but there was still a chance that she could be there to help Monica, and she would do absolutely anything for that. As she walked away, she could swear she felt something on her shoulder, a hand, some sort of cold shiver. She imagined it was Monica trying to reassure her. She let out a long breath and walked on.

* * *

  
  
As it turned out, Bruce worked really well under pressure. The next morning when she went into the living room she found him curled up in a couch, clutching his glasses. She sighed, a pang of guilt resonating in her chest. She started the coffee machine and while the cup was being filled she went to wake him up gently.

  
"Bruce, hey?"

  
He mumbled and his eyes fluttered, and he finally jumped when he saw her.

  
"I... I figured it out!" he said quickly, just in case.

  
Carol blinked in surprise.

  
"You did?"

  
"Yeah, it's just a matter of finding in which portion of the electromagnetic spectrum she was trapped in. Turns out its in the Extreme Ultraviolet. Radiations are close enough from ours that they are almost visible, it's possible she can alter the vibration of her atoms within the range of 30 picohertz to maybe 3 picohertz? If we can get to 30 terahertz, approximately, she should become visible again."

  
"Wow, I barely understood a single word of what you just said. But I trust you."

  
Bruce smiled his own goofy smile.

  
"I can get working on a machine right away if you..."

  
Carol shook her head.

  
"Get some rest first, have a coffee. I'm sorry I stressed you out like I did, I was just worried."

  
He looked at her with the utmost sincerity.

  
"I understand, really. You lost so much, and if you have a chance to get it back, I'll do everything I can to make that happen."

  
"Thank you."

* * *

  
  
It took them three days, between Bruce, Carol, and Rocket to put everything together. They built a machine which would supposedly isolate Monica's atoms and put them back together, hopefully. It was a small platform with electrified pillars at every corner. Bruce was ready to activate the machine. Carol stood beside him anxiously, very close to bitting her nails like she hadn't done since she was six. Most of the other Avengers were standing behind them, watching.

  
"Monica, are you there?" Bruce called out.

  
The light flickered above them.

  
"Good. If you could position yourself in the middle of the platform, or as much as possible anyway."

  
They waited, and after a good minute, there was a brief flash of light.

  
"Hold on, Monica..." Carol mumbled to herself.

  
She looked over at Bruce. He nodded and turned on the machine. The pillars came to life and started slowly rotating around the platform. White electricity crackled out of the pillars, forming a cage of pure light around the platform. At first, nothing happened. Carol bit her lower lip, waiting. The rotors picked up speed. Finally, something happened. In the middle of the platform, the vague shape of a human appeared. Slowly but surely, it went from a vague blob to a more normal figure. Then more details started to appear.  
"It's working!" Carol shouted over the crackle of electricity with a smile.

  
There was a sudden, piercing scream, and Carol's hopeful smile faltered. When the first traits of Monica actually appeared, they were distorted by pain, just like the previous time Carol had seen her. It was another nail in Carol's heart.

  
"What's happening?!"

  
"I... I don't know... I suppose its all her atoms coming back together..."

  
Carol watched helplessly as Monica screamed, her body forming once again. She clenched her fists, torn apart. She could turn it off but then what would happen to Monica? Would her atom scatter again? Would she die, half-there and half-not? She couldn't risk it, but that didn't mean she could stand the sound of her daughter in pain.

  
"It's almost done!" Bruce assured. "Hold on!"

  
Finally, Monica was back. Through the electricity and the rotors, Carol could only see a few glimpses, but it was her daughter, she saw her. There was a final crack of electricity, and finally, the rotors slowed down. Carol barely waited for them to stop. She heard Bruce calling her back, heard Steve and Natasha telling her to be careful. She didn't care. She jumped through the rotors and fell to her knees. It was Monica, dressed exactly like she had been the moment she was in the security footage. She was kneeling on the platform, her chest heaving from the pain which was resonating in her body. Smoke was still rising off of her skin. Carol instantly took her in her arms and held her tightly. Monica was burning to the touch, but Carol didn't care.

  
"Mom..."

  
Monica's heaved turned to sobs as she collapsed in Carol's arms, holding onto her for dear life. Carol felt tears of her own running down her cheeks, and a bubble of lightness, a mix of hope and happiness, bloom in her chest.

  
"It's okay. I got you. You're safe now. I'm here."


End file.
